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The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decided in July that maritime incumbent telco Aliant Telecom Inc. must offer up its in-building wires at Memorial University in St. John’s, Nfld. to Group Telecom Inc. (GT) at a price of $1 per channel per month. GT had applied to the CRTC for a decision regarding this issue after winning a contract to supply the school with Centrex service. Aliant, Memorial’s previous Centrex provider, was also vying for the contract. Tal Bevan, GT’s president, business operations, said his company is pleased with the decision.

ROI concerns top list

Companies considering IP telephony deployments put return on investment (ROI) at the top of their list of concerns regarding the technology, according to a survey conducted by U.K.-based IT consultancy Damovo. The company said of the 100 senior executives asked about IP telephony, 50 per cent cited ROI as their number one consideration. As well, Damovo said 21 per cent said they took maturity of the technology into account, while 20 per cent were concerned about reliability. Meanwhile, 11 per cent of respondents said security is a concern.

Carrier cries for regional relief

Telus Corp. said it is “disappointed” in a July decision that saw Canada’s Governor in Council uphold two CRTC decisions regarding subsidies for incumbent carriers operating in high-cost areas, and the rates competitors pay to access incumbent networks. Telus had appealed to the government, saying the CRTC should apply company-specific costing to account for regional differences, but the Governor in Council sided with the CRTC’s one-size-fits-all assessment. Telus said the decision would not affect its financial position, adding that this issue has been before the CRTC for two years.